DON'T GET TRICKED BY THE CAR DEALER Part 2 - The most widespread trick currently being used is to make the customer believe that the salesperson can get the lowest price for the car, so that you (the customer) will start negotiations with the dealer almost immediately. The specific methods vary, but here are some common ways of doing it:
The salesperson will tell you. ’You could probably get the car for less than $36,250…’, but will avoid giving a specific price. Instead, the salesperson will say, ‘When you are ready to buy, we can strike a deal, are you ready to buy now?’
The salesperson tells the customer: ‘If you're going to spend more than $36,250 on the car, you should come back and see me’. When the customer returns and asks to buy the car for $36,250, the salesperson will point out that he/she never promised to sell you the car for $36,250, but is ready to give you the best price when you are ready to buy. ‘Do you want me to get a good price for you? …so are you ready to buy now?’. We all know that buying a new or used car can be a daunting process however; at discountnewcars.com.au, you will find the latest car specials from reliable dealers.
Your salesperson may give the price for an older model car. Either the ‘old’ car is a previous model, or perhaps it has been gathering dust because no one has wanted to buy it (usually for good reason) and the dealer wants to get rid of it quickly to make room for newer models. This is likely to happen if you don’t think carefully and specifically ask for the price for a current model car that is not older than 3 months. Be wise and search OzFreeOnline.com, where they have thousands of cars in their cars classifieds pages. By simply registering and submitting a keyword search, you will find the car you want in no time.
The other ploy is when the salesperson takes your credit card along with an insufficiently low offer to ‘the boss’ for approval, but then returns to say it was not accepted. This is intended to drag the customer into more negotiations. i.e. ‘…we only need to increase it slightly and she’s yours..."
Don’t get caught by being given the price for the car excluding the on-road costs. If you don’t specifically ask for on-road costs to be included, the sales person will most likely give you the excluding on-road costs price. Of course, you have to be guarded because your contract may be drawn up on this proviso. Trouble is that when you are ready to sign, the ‘quoted’ price of the car, will then be understated by many thousands of dollars.
If you are a bit slow and think your car is worth more than it really is, you just might get a clever salesperson that will give in, and agree to an excessive price for your trade in. Now you might be pleased by this, because you may be thinking that you are ‘putting one over’ the dealer. No so, generally the sales person will look up on the computer or in the Car Dealers Price Guide to find out the going price for your trade in and will start from there. In addition, believe me; you will pay for it in the end. How you ask? Well when the dealer charges TOO much for your new car. You can check on the internet for a price as well, so go to gumtree.com.au, so you are armed with the real price, when you go to trade your motor vehicle.
From time to time, a ruthless sales person will have a go at this. He/she will contact you before your new car is delivered. When the niceties are over you will be told that there is an issue with the trade in. You will be asked to bring the car into the workshop for further inspection. When your vehicle has been in the garage, for 60 minutes, (having nothing done to it), the salesperson will tell you that the mechanic claims to have found it is really only worth $500 less than what they have offered for it. Watch for this old ruse, because if you fall for it, the sales person gets another $500 in his pocket. To make sure this does not happen to you go to OzFreeOnline.com and check out the great car deals in their Car classifieds. You will find thousands of cars to choose from and be equipped with all the information you need when you arrive to look at the car you want to buy.
Now if you don’t want to be pursued by a dealer just don’t give a phone number. Say ‘it's a silent number’, ‘...don’t have a mobile’, ‘can't leave a work number’, or at the test drive ‘accidentally’ give the wrong phone number. If you don’t, dealers will sometimes pursue a potential customer until they wear them down to buy.
Even after continual phoning, and when you end up buying from a different dealer, the sales person (who has missed out on the deal) will then give you the bad news. When you tell them you bought elsewhere (at a very good price of $34,550) they will say, ‘Oh no, you shouldn’t have paid any more than $32,000 for it!’ This is designed to make you feel as bad as the salesperson, who lost out too. It also highlights just how spiteful some people can be.
No matter when, where or which dealership you may stroll into, there is always a reason to feel ‘lucky’, according to the keen sales person. Early in the month, they might say they missed their target last month and are desperate to make it up. During the middle of the month, ‘the boss has told me to push out more cars or I'll never reach my target this month either’. The most common, is probably the most used because most people fall for it. This is the end of the month trick.
The time of month may matter to some dealers sometimes, though; it never matters to a car broker. Beware of this because you may end up paying more than you expected. Go online to consumer.vic.gov.au and find out the information you need before rushing headlong into the ‘big end of financial year deal’. This trick deserves serious consideration. It is the most elaborate trick of this type. Manufacturers know that companies often buy around this time of year for accounting purposes. They therefore rarely offer any factory discounts, and they sometimes increase their retail prices to take advantage. To find a great deal on a car why not log on to OzFreeOnline.com. It’s Australia’s largest free classifieds site. You will find auto classifieds, motorcycle classifieds, and Australian cars for sale all over the country.
DON'T GET TRICKED BY THE CAR DEALER Part 2